Star Trek: Federation
by Walker1
Summary: In the wake of the Dominion War, member worlds begin to secede from the safety of the Federation. As one crew responds to a Denobulan withdrawal request, they find all is not as it seems. By chance, they are drawn into adventure never before imagined in S
1. Prologue

Prologue

Echelon Prime

Stardate 55728.6

Old Earth Calendar 2378

"Amar Kol," Kevlix smiled warmly as he approached the Kerovi planetary leader. Kol turned at the sound of his voice, brushing a strand of brown hair from her yellow eyes, her orange skin blushing just slightly. Kol adjusted the white dress she had worn to the event, gold slashes tore through the fabric and were accented by the gold jewelry the Amar wore around her neck and wrist.. Kevlix diplomatically extended his hand and took her four fingered appendage in his, bowing slightly before kissing it gently.

The expansive room in which they stood amiably, lit by the enormous windows filled by the setting Echelon sun, seemed almost like the mountain home of the former Earth gods. Flowing curtains of gold draped each of those enormous windows, white marble tiles, struck through by veins of the same gold color, reflected the sound of each footstep on their surface. Massive antique wooden furniture of the old earth wood mahogany added strength and substance to the gigantic diplomatic theater. The only thing missing from the illusion were servants dressed in togas, serving every whim of their masters. Not that the Federation hadn't supplied servants, even if it was of the holographic type, dressed in tuxedos and sporting trays of delicacies from every member world.

Kevlix tried to remember the name of the mountain home of those Gods, but failed. Not that it mattered, clearly the Federation had spared no expense to treat their guests like the very gods this hall recalled. It was no surprise that they had "rolled out the red carpet", as it were, for these government representatives, especially considering the seriousness of the situation, as each of the worlds represented at this meeting were seriously discussing secession from the Federation itself.

Currently, the Federation representatives had called another break in the meeting and the Denobulan ambassador wanted, perhaps needed, to meet with the influential woman that was Amar Merin Kol. Secretly, Merin Kol wanted to stay within the Federation, but her needs and the needs of her people were two vastly different things. Kevlix continued in his jovial Denobulan manner, noticeably skipping the small talk, he ventured on, "I understand you, that is the Kerovi, will withdraw from the Federation?"

Merin Kol smiled sadly, before, "Indeed, it is with great regret that we've decided to secede from the Federation." Amar Kol stopped momentarily to take a proffered drink and thank the holographic waiter before returning her attention to Kevlix. "The Kerovi have been Federation members now for just over forty years, but the Denobulans," Kol paused dramatically, "your species has been with the Federation since the first warp five starship the…._Enterprise_, I believe?"

"That's correct, a doctor Phlox." Kevlix seemed to bristle a moment, adjusting the collar of the black tunic he wore, before continuing, "Quite a famous physician among my people really. They still tell stories of the great Phlox." His voice held awe, tinged with a hint of disgust.

"So tell me," Kol continued and eyed the Denobulan fiercely, "why is it that the Denobulans wish to withdraw from the Federation?"

"That is a guarded matter, Amar," Kevlix said, his joviality faltering. The truth was, the matter was so closely guarded that even Kevlix hadn't been privy to the full explanation. It had to do with a planetary exodus, that much he knew, but he didn't understand what that meant. With the manner in which his government kept secrets, Kevlix wasn't sure he would know until the exodus occurred. He shrugged more to himself than to Amar Kol. "Suffice to say that when it is time for me to know and understand, all will be made clear." Kevlix tugged at his dress tunic, pulling the black garment down over his ample body. "And you, Amar, why are the Kerovi withdrawing from the Federation?"

"We feel that peace can only be brokered by the neutrality that only nonalignment can bring, Ambassador." Kol sipped the _tranya_, absent-mindedly unaware that the very beverage she consumed was a gift of the First Federation to this, the new United Federation of Planets.

_Hippocrite_, Kevlix thought angrily as he watched her drink the delicacy with great delight. His people needed to withdraw from the Federation, to prevent their people from being drawn into this inexplicable exodus which threatened to consume his home planet and its peoples. But this trite woman withdrew for what could only be described as the selfishness of a small-minded peoples.

The Dominion didn't care about allies and enemies, only that you align yourself with them, lest they roll over you. The same could be said of the Klingons one hundred years ago, the Borg, and the Romulans, had Praetor Shinzon been successful in his revenge. The few, brave enough to stand in their way, have always been the humans and their United Federation. All of this screamed through Kevlix's mind even as he said a cordial farewell to Amar Merin Kol. _Good riddance,_ he thought when she'd gone.

All of this screamed through Kevlix's mind even as he said a cordial farewell to Amar Merin Kol. he thought when she'd gone. 


	2. Chapter one

**Chapter One**

Captain Caroline Rousseau stared at her reflection in her ready room window more than the white streaks representing countless stars which streamed past at faster-than-light speed. The delicate porcelain teacup she held, perched precariously on the equally delicate saucer beneath it, emanated steam and the fragrant scent of chamomile tea. The blend was rumored to sooth the nerves. _How could anyone's nerves be soothed at a time such as this? _She wondered. And so it was that she discovered herself staring into a haggard shadow of herself, reflected by the transparent aluminum and filled with the darkness of space. Full of doubt, full of anger, full of fear. Perhaps not so unusually, she wondered if this wasn't a true representation of herself. A transparent void, obvious to all who knew her, full of darkness and doubt. The door chimed, breaking her self-recriminations.

She rounded the desk, no small feat in so small a room, and sat in her captain's chair behind her captain's desk and wondered why she was sitting there. The events surrounding her captaincy weighed heavily on her mind, especially of late. She sipped the tea, placing the cup and saucer on the desk when she'd finished, arranged her hair and uniform, and finally answered, "Entre," in the language of her homeland. She steeled herself, knowing whom it would be, Michael Taylor. Commander. First officer. Current friend. Former lover.

Michael entered the ready room with the accompanying swish of the pneumatic doors. "Bon matin, mademoiselle." It was intended as a jolly good morning, but it came off sounding as half hearted as Caroline felt. Mike obviously felt the weight of their impending mission. "Sorry," he said as he sat in the deep, gray chair across from Caroline, "it's hard to be chipper at a time like this."

_A time like this,_ Caroline thought, his words echoing the thought she'd had just a moment earlier. "Funny you should say that,. I was just thinking the same exact thing. With all that's happened in the last year, in the last few years, who could really blame these worlds for wanting to secede from the Federation? The Dominion took a lot out of us, all of us," Caroline thought of her own haunted expression, the ship under her command because of the death of senior officers, of friends and colleagues. "Then the Borg, the Bak'u and Sona escapade, the Tezwa, the Romulan coup, the subsequent fall of the Romulan Empire…the whole quadrant is a mess and the Federation is spreading itself so thin that they can't possibly cover it all. Michael, we're returning to Earth only to be sent to some world full of people who no longer want us there."

"At least we'll be able to refresh the crew and fill some important positions."

He was right, the_ Odyssey,_ was still missing several key senior officers and she'd been run ragged since Shinzon had deposed and murdered the Romulan Senate. _Odyssey_ had been patrolling borders along the neutral zone, and though the Romulans seemed far more interested in their own power struggles, it couldn't be denied that the Romulans could strike at any moment. In any case, the_ Odyssey _was missing its chief conn officer, chief of sciences, chief of security, chief transporter operator, and so many more key personnel.

Caroline knew that Michael had been reviewing personnel files for the last three days. Consequently, she asked, "So, have you decided on any of the new replacements?" Caroline had allowed Michael the pleasure of selecting the new personnel. She hardly had the time to review the files of thousands of Starfleet officers and noncommissioned personnel applying for transfer, promotion, or first assignment.

Michael smiled knowingly before answering. "You're aware that the list you forwarded to me was several thousand names long…" His voice trailed, it wasn't really a question so much as bait for his next comment.

Now it was Caroline's turn to smile. "I am, but I have every confidence in you to sort through and find us the right personnel, Mike. However, you may want to start by narrowing the parameters a bit."

From his interior jacket pocket, Taylor produced a padd and gently laid it on Caroline's desk. It contained a list of twenty names, each assigned to a key position, some to the same position. "As your first officer, I've already taken the liberty to reduce the number of qualified candidates."

Michael saw the look of puzzlement cross her face and answered the unspoken question of how he had accomplished this so quickly. "If you're so inclined to ask, I started by asking the computer to single out officers and noncoms with exemplary records, ready and recommended for advancement. Of course, that narrowed it down to several hundred. My next query was to limit the personnel to those officers already on Earth which narrowed the list to less than a hundred. My final query was to limit it to personnel available to ship on or around the date required."

"Sometimes you amaze me, I knew there was a reason I kept you around" she replied gently. "After all those months in the Rashanar Battle Site, you still have so much energy, so much enthusiasm for the job."

"Rashanar was bad," Mike said referring to the site of the deadliest battle of the Dominion War where hulks of dead Federation, Romulan, Cardassian, and Dominion ships orbited an unexplained gravity well, where violent, toxic, explosive gas nebulas formed from the vented atmospheres of those dead ships, the corpses of their former crews floated freely in space, energy spikes from dying warp cores stabbed from hulk to hulk, and an antimatter "asteroid" traversed the region at incaculable intervals. Then there were the legends of ghosts, raiders, death, and the unknown which threatened the very core of any officer stationed there. _Odyssey_ had recently finished a three month tour of duty there, like the soldiers once posted at the tomb of the unknown soldier, guarding the sacred site. It was enough to make every member of this crew introspective.

"It was bad," Caroline agreed reverently. "And now, we go from one nightmare mission to another, and another again." Caroline looked at the teacup resting on its saucer and decided she didn't want the tea within it any longer. "Who would have ever thought that we would be evacuating key Federation personnel from one of the member worlds?"

"Former member worlds," Mike corrected her. He had read about the secession of tens of member worlds throughout the Federation. He never would have thought he would see the day. "So, do you have any idea which world we'll be evacuating?"

"I'm as privileged as you, Mike," Caroline replied tersely.

"So you don't know either then?" Mike chuckled halfheartedly.

"That's the reason for our return to Earth. A personal briefing by the C&C of Starfleet itself. Whichever planet it is, I'd say it's a longtime member. If I were to venture a guess, I would say Denobula." Caroline had long considered to what planet _Odyssey _would be assigned, the Sovereign class starship was no toy with which to be trifled. Thankfully, _Odyssey_ had always gotten important missions.

Mike whistled low. "Denobula is seceding?"

"Consider that top secret, Mike. At least for now." Caroline stood and picked up the padd from her desk before she crossed to look out the window, this time at the streaking stars. She sighed and began scrolling through the names. "Let's talk about Kashida Ishikawa as chief Security officer, shall we?"


End file.
